Rep. Joe Kennedy joins immigration fast

Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-Mass.) — whose great-uncle’s cause to overhaul the nation’s immigration system has gone unfulfilled — joined a prominent fasting effort on Tuesday that is aimed at urging the Republican-led House to take up immigration reform.

Since Nov. 12, several immigration activists have abstained from food to bring attention to their push to enact comprehensive immigration reform. President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and scores of lawmakers have visited their tent on the National Mall to offer encouragement.

Text Size

-

+

reset

In 90 secs: What's driving the day

A new round of activists, including Kennedy, a freshman Democrat, joined the push Tuesday. A Kennedy spokeswoman said the lawmaker plans to abstain from food for 24 hours before another member of Congress takes over the fast.

Kennedy is the grandson of former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, and the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and President John F. Kennedy were his great-uncles. As senator, Kennedy was a pivotal Democratic figure in the last major immigration reform effort in Congress six years ago.

The first round of fasters included Eliseo Medina of the Service Employees International Union, Cristian Avila of Mi Familia Vota, Dae Joong Yoon of the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium, and Lisa Sharon Harper of Sojourners. The activists, who have fasted for 22 days, were on hand Monday evening while the House voted — during which they received an enthusiastic ovation from lawmakers in the chamber.

“As we fasted, the American people responded with overwhelming support and solidarity,” the fasters said in a statement. “Thousands chose to fast and pray, reigniting the power of the immigration reform movement and strengthening our spirits and determination. However, Speaker Boehner is not listening. He has failed to act and move forward with immigration reform legislation in the House.”

The new group of fasters includes Kennedy, the Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners, Phillip Agnew and Ciara Taylor of Dream Defenders, the the Rev. Eun-sang Lee of the First United Methodist Church in Salt Lake City, Stephan Bauman of World Relief, the Rev. Gabriel Salguero of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition and Rabbi David Saperstein of the Religion Action Center of Reform Judaism.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced that he was bringing on a new policy staffer to handle immigration issues — a signal that House Republicans may be committed to reform, despite not having brought bills to the House floor all year.

Rebecca Tallent, currently the director of immigration policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, will join Boehner’s staff on Dec. 4. She is a former chief of staff to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and was his point person on immigration policy during the last major overhaul effort in 2007.

“Speaker Boehner could not have chosen a better person to help House leadership develop effective immigration reform legislation,” said former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, who is the co-chair of the center’s immigration task force. “Our work at the Bipartisan Policy Center demonstrates that it’s possible to develop immigration policy that addresses the interests of conservative Republicans, reform advocates and everyone in between.”